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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hello! I bet some of you are scratching your head, thinking "But it's Tuesday..." I know that I rarely post anything at the beginning of the week, but today I'm here to share a Tickled Pink Stamps sponsorship with you! TPS is sponsoring Creative Inspirations this week, and the challenge is, you guessed it - a sketch! So you know I couldn't pass it up! Nor could I pass up the opportunity to make another fun Halloween card (This makes 10 in my stash for this year so far)! My adorable image is Lil Haunting Witch Audrey from Tickled Pink Stamps' Lil Pinkette line. And she is the rubber version too! *gasp* I do own her as a digi, but TPS owner/{PINK} goddess Kellie was so kind as to send her to me as a special birthday treat earlier this month since she knows how much I love Halloween. So how could I not ink her up?!?!

My papers are from a DCWV pad (The Midnight Spell stack), and I kept my embellishments rather simple. Just a few flowers (Recollections and Prima), some brads and ribbon from my stash, and a line of black pearls. The sentiment was created with stickers because I decided to add it after my image was already adhered, and I didn't want to risk stamp and ink at that point. lol To match my paper theme I used the Martha Stewart spider web punch for the element in the upper left-hand corner.

You'll want to take a peek at what some of the other amazing {PINK} ladies have created using this sketch so go on over to the Tickled Pink Stamps blog. We hope that our projects will inspire you to join in the fun at Creative Inspirations! Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

You never realize how much "stuff" you have until you are forced to pack for a weekend away from your usual crafting spot. I am spending the weekend at my parents', hunkered down with the small man, to ride out Hurricane Irene. As you all know, I am a master procrastinator so I had not yet even thought about what I was going to do for my Corrosive Challenge card this week, other than the fact that I would be using an image from sponsor Simply Betty Stamps. The theme is "Show Us Your Dark Side" so SBS couldn't be a more perfect sponsor for this challenge! And I just received my new order in the mail (yes, Betty forced me to buy rubber, and I did it gladly for this adorably fun Teen Scene Halloween collection)! So I threw all of them, plus a random assortment of dies, flowers, bling and what have you, into my scrapbooking case and headed off. My mom thought I was moving in to stay when she saw how many bags and cases the wee one and I arrived with. I guess she hasn't been in my stamping room lately... lol

Anyway, with my limited supplies I was able to whip up this creation using SBS "Addams Family Portrait" rubber cling stamp. Betty, Christian, and Lola look fabulous as Morticia, Gomez, and Wednesday! Even Thing is there! As soon as I decided this was my image I knew I wanted to use the Fleur De Lis Squares to make a frame for the portrait. The sumptuous paper is from my new Authentique - Glowing 6x6 pad and the flowers and brad are both Recollections from Michaels. I simply ADORE Halloween, and I've been having so much fun making cards for my favorite holiday! I have to say I'm pleased to actually be ahead on something (it doesn't happen often! lol).

Now it's a waiting game to see what happens when the hurricane arrives. I am hoping we don't lose power, but we're prepared. I have the Blackberry so I'm hoping that will keep me connected even if all else fails. And I'm wondering how crafting by flashlight would go... Haha! I hope you will stop by The Corrosive Challenge blog as founder Janet has a special message for all her followers and a big announcement (*hint, hint: it partially involves me!). You'll also want to check out all the other delightfully dark creations from the rest of the Corrosive design team! Oh, and then I'm sure you'll be inspired to play along too!

To everyone in the path of Hurricane Irene, be safe and stay well! Thanks for taking a peek! All comments are truly valued and will mean I won't send the zombies to eat your brains... This time. Bwahahaha!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Well, I know I'm a little late with this one since it's now officially Saturday, but here is my project for this week's Sassy Studio Designs Fabulous Freebie Friday! The image is called "Glass of Wine" and you can snag her for free here if you are a member of our Paper Craft Planet group. She will be available until sometime tomorrow afternoon. (*Hint: If you're not a member - JOIN! lol) Every Friday, there is a new image on our PCP group, and they are posted for only 24 hours (though usually a tad longer since I'm late with everything!) before they go back in the vault or the shop. Some of them are special versions never available before. Plus there are bi-weekly challenges with your chance to win 2 SSD images of your choice! The current challenge is "Girlie Girl", and I think I've captured that with the image and the gorgeous designer papers from DCWV. The awesome sketch is #16 from The Deconstructed Sketch! Jen just does a superb job coming up with these layouts! I try to play along every week when I can. I have to admit, though, this one gave me pause when I first looked at it, but once I started working on it, it all came together quite nicely. Don't you love when that happens? I have a friend who works in a wine & cheese shop and this is her birthday card.

Thanks for taking a look and hope your weekend is off to a fabulous start!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

So far this summer on the East coast we have had tornadoes and an earthquake and now a hurricane is bearing down on us! I am convinced it is a sign of the coming apocalypse and am preparing for the zombie invasion! As such, my card for this week's Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge features the ghoulish version of Lil Fashionette 80s Sookie! She is of, course doing karaoke because "Ghouls just wanna have fun...."! I thought she was the perfect image for this week's challenge which is to use SHEET MUSIC. Mine is in the background, but it is there. It's designer paper from the fabulous new 6x6 pad I bought called Authentique - Glowing. Sookie is colored with Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers and popped up above the amazing new Pink {Ink} Sketch (#4) designed by Cheri (aka Graphicat).

You will want to head over to the TPSC blog to see what the rest of the talented {PINK} challenge ladies have created for this challenge! And if you want to play along, you have all week. Just remember you must use a Tickled Pink Stamps image (Lil Lolitas and Lil Lads, Lil Pinkettes, Pink Pets, or Cherrie - all available here in the TPS shop) to join in the fun!

Thanks for looking and I love reading your comments! I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave them!

Hello, my crafty friends! It appears that I need a good slap on the wrist for having forgotten to do the drawing for my birthday candy! Better late than never, I always say.... So without further ado (i.e. rambling from me) here is the lucky entrant:

Here is your sequence:

1 16 3
4 21 11
15 17 18
8 13 9
2 14 5
20 10 19
6 7 12

Timestamp: 2011-08-25 05:06:34 UTC

(Source: random.org)

Congratulations, Rachelle!!! You have won my Happy Birthday to Me Blog Candy!

Please e-mail me at charmed_stamping(at)charter(dot)net so that I can arrange to get your prizes to you. And since I added 10 followers during that time, I will slip a little something extra into the package for you as well!

Well, I've had a few days off from crafting. The beginning of the week is always tough for me as I work late on Monday and visit my family on Tuesday night. I am usually much too tired by the time I get home to start a project on those evenings. So here I am in the wee hours of Thursday with only one of two design team projects completed. I'm wondering how sleep is going to fit into this equation but don't really want to think about that right now.... lol

First, let's talk about my card! It's another Dare To Be Sassy Thursday at Sassy Studio Designs and the theme this week is "Back To School"! With lots of kids everywhere already back to hitting the books, it is a perfectly timed challenge! For my card I chose one of SSD's teen images. She is an older image, called Backpack Brandy, but is still available in the shop here if you are interested. My layout is courtesy of The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, though I flipped it upside down for this project. My designer papers are School Days - General Studies from TPC Studio and Grandma's Kitchen - Pen Pals from We R Memory Keepers. The edger punch is from EK Success and I used a portion of the die from Tom Holtz's File Tab die for my sentiment. Some hard ware (from both TH and Stampin' Up), flowers, and bling complete my creation!

If you want to play along, you have a full week to do so and you can enter with any image you like, though we do love to see you using SSD ones. Also, we select our guest designers for the following month from the DTBST challenges so if you'd love to earn some free Sassies and work with the design team for the month of September all you have to do is add your DTBST challenge project, which MUST contain a SSD image, to the InLinkz tool and put "GDT" after your name.

Thanks for stopping by and start taking bets on whether I'll be back with design team project #2 on time....

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Gee, is it Sunday already? I feel like I haven't slept all weekend with everything, crafty and otherwise, that has been going on here this weekend! Maybe this will teach me not to procrastinate so much.... Nah! So last minute or not, here I am with your Corrosive Challenge for the week! This time around we want you to go "Girlie"! That's right - bling, flowers, ribbons, lace, charms, pink.... If it's girlie, we want to see it!

I have used an image from our sponsor this month, Simply Betty Stamps. I am having so much fun working with these images and this one is called Rio Birthday Girl. She can be found here in the SBS shop. It is perfect for my best friend's daughter, who turns 13 next month. (Well, would you look at that? A card made a whole month in advance! I guess I don't wait until the last minute with everything after all! lol) She is done up in shades of purple and black so that she is girlie and goth at the same time. The sketch is #169 from Sketch Saturday, but my image is fussy cut instead of being a rectangular panel. I used my usual embellishments, which are always girlie anyway; that's just my style. Though it's hard to see in the photo the Tim Holtz token says "unique".

I am off to go back to bed for a few hours until the small man wakes up. I'm looking forward to spending the day with him, hopefully cooling off in my brother's pool.. It's supposed to be a warm and humid one here today.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Welcome to the Sassy Studio Designs new release blog hop!!! If you have come from Joyce's blog, you are on the right track! If you just happened by my post first, you'll want to go back to at the beginning at Kathy's blog so you don't miss out on any of the fabulous images! Or on the chance to win some Sassy Studio Designs images of your very own! All you have to do to qualify is leave a comment on each design team member's blog AND the Sassy Studio Designs blog as you go. Here is the hop order in case you get lost:

I have the pleasure of showing you Little Honey Esmeralda today! Isn't she saucy? She is a new addition to the Fairy Tale collection of princesses and heroines. You can find her here in the SSD store, along with all the other gorgeous images owner/artist Lindsay dreams up for us to play with! I paired her with some fun papers in green, purple, and teal and added the gold "coin" trim that mimics the detail on her sash plus a few flowers for my embellishments. The sketch is from Sketch N Stash (#68).

We'll also be chatting on the SSD party blog this evening from 7-8pm PDT (10-11pm for those of us in the Eastern time zone). We hope you'll join us!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Just a quick post to share my card for this week's Sassy Studio Designs' Fabulous Freebie Friday... Lovely Dhyana here is a freebie. And you know you want her. Well, all you have to do is join the SSD group here on Paper Craft Planet! Want to know something amazing? We do this EVERY Friday over at PCP! Imagine what you're missing if you're not a member!?! Images are only available for 24 hours so make sure you don't delay! There are also fun challenges every fortnight! This time the theme is "Girlie Girl". I tried to capture that this was her "me" time as she meditates in her happy place. Though my colors aren't your traditional "girlie" colors, I think the flower, bling, and lace more than make up for that! My layout is sketch #15 from The Deconstructed Sketch.

Thanks for looking, and I'll be back tomorrow with my new release post for Sassy Studio Designs! Make sure you join in on the blog hop too! There will be Sassy prizes to be had and then we will be chatting on the SSD party blog in the evening! Hope to talk to you then....

I'm very glad it's Friday, but it's a sad day. For the second time this year I've had to say good bye to a beloved furry friend. My cat Poe, who was only nine, was diagnosed with kidney disease about a month and a half ago. Despite a special diet and rounds of antibiotics he just seemed to continue to deteriorate. I am broken-hearted as he was a sweet, loving cat and so good with my small man. He will be missed. And though he's gone, he has left his paw prints forever on our hearts.

Poe
2002-2011

I'm sorry to start off on such a sad note, but PoePoe deserved a loving tribute. Now on to the card I have for you. Tickled Pink Stamps is sponsoring two challenges this week, and I have combined them into one {PINK}-elicious card. The sketch is from Cupcake Craft Challenges, which actually started on Monday so you only have a few days left to play along, but it's a good one so you should try to make time for it! You can see Cupcake 155... Faberonny Sketcharoony and their design team's creations here. The second challenge TPS is sponsoring is Card Makin' Mamas and their challenge is... you guessed it - PINK!!!

As part of the Pinkette design team, I have used one of the new Lil Haunting Pinkettes for this project. This is Fairy Coraline, and she is fabulous fun to color and add sparkle to! Here I have used my Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers to make her pretty in pink. I was very excited to use my new Fleur de Lis Nesties that I got for my birthday! I stamped both sentiments onto Creamy Caramel card stock from Stampin' Up in Memento Tuxedo Black ink then distressed the edges of the larger one and sponged them both with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. Then I added flowers, a bit of bling, and a die cut corner embellishment. I have to say that this was one of those times where it all just came together perfectly and I love the result! This fairy will be wishing a co-worker a very happy birthday today! And I think she will be well received.

Thank you for looking and be sure to come by tomorrow for the Sassy Studio Designs new release blog hop. You could win some Sassy images just for leaving comments on the design team members' blogs. The design team will also be chatting on the party blog from 7-8pm PDT (10-11pm for those of us on the East coast).

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Good morning, and welcome back! See, I told you I had more in store for you this week! Today I'm here with the new Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge and it's "Anything Goes"! Easy enough, right? Since I am on a roll with Halloween cards, I decided to continue having fun! I am using one of the fabulous new images just released last week from the Lil Haunts 2 collection. She is called Mummie Christina, and I LOVE that she is still wearing her glasses, even after mummification! lol You can find her here, along with all her spooky pals, in the Tickled Pink Stamps store. I have cut out just her upper torso using my Classic Circle Nesties, stamped a marble effect around the edges of my image, and matted that on a Lacey Circle Nestie in Pumpkin Pie. I also used my new Ribbon Banners Shapeabilities for the sentiment, which is stamped onto Old Olive using Tuxedo Black ink from Memento. I had a lot of fun embellishing this and used some rolled gauze from Target which I cut in strips and distressed a bit with my Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I used Old Paper and Vintage Photo. The other items are pretty standard for me: flowers, flourish, pins, Dew Drops, oh, and a big eyeball wrapped "candy" that is a sticker from Halloween queen Martha Stewart.

My layout is August's sketch from Graphicat Sketches. This is my first time playing along over there, but it I know I'll be back every month! Cheri has her own shop as well, Graphicat Designs, and I think I may need to go shopping soon... The woman has a wicked sense of humor and her sentiments are a hoot! Anyway, back to my card - I loved the sketch so decided to use it. Simple as that. Oh, and plus they have awesome prizes up for grabs so why wouldn't I want in on that?! Haha! Go check it out for yourself!

You will also want to head over to the Tickled Pink Challenge blog and see what amazing creations the rest of the {PINK} challenge ladies have come up with! Be sure to link up your own project too while you're there; you have all week to play along. Just remember that you need to use an image from one of the Tickled Pink Stamps collections in order to participate and to be eligible for the wonderful prize (1 rubber or 2 digital stamps of your choice). These include Lil Lolitas and Lil Lads, Lil Pinkettes, Lil Pets, and Cherrie.

Thanks for dropping in and I hope you'll leave a comment on my project. It's always nice to hear what everyone's favorite part of my work is. Have a fantastic day and enjoy!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Welcome to Sassy Studio Designs Sneak Peek Week Day 4! We have a new release coming up on Saturday! I have been so busy with other things that I haven't even had time to talk this up prior to today, but SSD owner/artist Lindsay has some fabulous images for us, as always! If you've been to the Sassy blog this week you've already seen a revised White Queen from the Alice in Sassyland collection, a revised Princess Penelope (featuring a newly added mask), and the brand new Little Honey Esmeralda from the Fairytale collection. This brings us here - to The Red Queen, The Queen of Hearts. She is newly revised and ready to come out of the Sassy vault on Saturday! So if you loved this collection and didn't have a chance to grab her before she was retired, now is your chance to make her your own.

I have based my layout on SSS121 from The Sweet Stop, but did have to leave off the round element on the left side to accommodate my image. The Queen is colored with Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers. The designer paper was already out and on my desk from a project earlier in the week (that you'll see on Friday) so I went with it for this card too. I sponged my white heart scalloped border, doily heart, and sentiment with Tim Holtz Old Paper and Vintage photo Distress Ink. You know me and my embellishments so I couldn't resist adding a few flowers and some pearls!

You will want to pop over to the Sassy Studio Designs blog and leave a comment there (and on the previous 3 days as well if you haven't already) as one lucky winner will randomly be selected from among the comments there to win the image being previewed each day! Be sure to check back tomorrow and Friday to see the last two previews and then join us on Saturday for a blog hop and chance to win more images!

I am off to start my day, but thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a terrific day and that you'll check back to see what else I have for you. Tomorrow will be another Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge and I have a TPS sponsorship for Friday.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Another Corrosive Challenge is upon us and it is SKETCH TIME!!! Janet's sketches are always great because they are simple enough to make a quick CAS card but also lend themselves to being dressed up too. I chose somewhere in-between, adding just a few embellishments so as not to draw attention away from my fabulous image!

Ah, my image.... What is her name and where did I get her, you ask? Well, she's called Skellington Betty, and she is a special limited release digi from this month's sponsor, Simply Betty Stamps! If you want to know how you can get her for FREE then you'll want to check out the SBS blog post here that has all the details! I, of course, made another Halloween card with the image! I am on a roll, and I have learned that there are others out there that love the holiday as much as I do! I used some Stampin' Up designer series papers from my stash, colored Ms Betty with Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers and added a few details to finish off the project. I am also entering this creation in the Anything Halloween challenge over at Simply Betty Challenges. The prize is a chance to win two as yet unreleased images and the opportunity to be part of the release day when they are! How cool is that?!?!

I was up way past my bedtime last night. Again. I must be nocturnal! lol I am going to keep this brief so I can rest a bit before I have a small man to attend to and more cards to make. Stay tuned this week for sneak peeks from Sassy Studio Designs , leading up to a new release on Saturday, among other things.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Welcome to Day 6 of the Tickled Pink Stamps Spinks and Spooks Collection preview extravaganza! What do you think so far? I adore Halloween so I am in my glory with this release! Only two more previews left and then you'll be able to own these spook-tacular images for your very own! And bonus! Digi Days start on the 15th of every month, which is the day these get released so you'll have your choice of rubbber or digital!

Today we are featuring Lil Haunting Pirate Patrick from the Lil Pinkette line. He looks very dashing with his eye patch and goatee! I happen to love pirate themed images so I was excited to see him! He is colored in my usual manner - Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers - and popped up on 3D dots above the treasure map and netting. I used papers from My Mind's Eye and raided my stash of embellies to see what I could use. I ended up with a couple of vintage looking brads and one shaped like an anchor. I used just a piece of a rhinestone flourish and put black rhinestones around the circle mat I cut with my Nesties to give the look of a portal. All of the Kraft layers are edge distressed and sponged to give them an aged look. The sentiment is from an Inkadinkado mini set I've had for a couple of years now and never used. It's always so much fun to find the perfect thing you were looking for in your stash, though! So next time someone asks me why I'm buying something, I'll just smile knowingly. Because even if an immediate use isn't apparent, I know it'll come in handy someday!

My layout is sketch #67 from Sunday Sketch & Stamp. This challenge runs for two weeks so you still have plenty of time to play along if you are so inclined.

You WILL want to head over to the Tickled Pink Stamps blog and check out the rest of the design teams amazing creations! Plus as always, Kellie, the very generous owner of TPS, has a prize up for grabs and all you have to do is leave on comment on the preview blog posts! Who knows? You might win your favorite image for free!

If you haven't noticed, I am ALL about Halloween lately! Well, today I had no choice! The theme for challenge #32 at Tickled Pink Stamps Challenges is Happy Haunts! So I thought I'd share my card using Lil Haunt Vampire Lilith. We are in the middle of previews for this year's Lil Haunts 2 images, but I felt like using a classic. She is colored with Copics and popped up on 3D dots. The sketch is WMSC59 from Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge. The "bat dropping" stamp is from their Wanda's Pantry set. I used my Tim Holtz Distress inks to age the white paper I stamped it on. I added a few roses, a couple of punched bats and some bling flourishes and I had my card. Oh, but let's not forget the blood.... Both are Martha Stewart punches!

I have to keep this brief - busy day on the way - but thanks for looking and I hope you'll take a peek at my Lil Haunting Pinkette preview today as well. Head on over to the TPSC blog to see what the rest of the {PINK} challenge ladies have SCARED up for you! Heehee!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I couldn't be more excited, except if Halloween were actually here! We are in the midst of previewing the new images from Tickled Pink Stamps for the August release! The Spinks and Spooks collection consists of 2 Lolitas, 2 Lads, and 4 Pinkettes (two of which are boys!) and they are ALL Halloween themed!!! Woo Hoo!

As a member of the Pinkette design team I have the honor of debuting to you Lil Pinkette Haunting Fairy Coraline! Isn't she the sweetest in her fairy costume?!?! You WILL want to take a peek at the Tickled Pink Stamps blog to see all the exquisite creations my fellow {Pink}ettes have created! Plus there are prizes to be won! That's right... All you have to do is leave a comment on the TPS blog for your chance to win Fairy Coraline for your very own! While you're at it, check out the other 3 amazing images that have already been previewed: Lil Haunts 2 Zombie Kellita, Lil Pinkette Haunting Robot Timmy, and Lil Haunts 2 Wizard Eric!

I have used the current sketch (#3) from Pink {Ink} Sketch Challenges for my card front layout. I decided to make an easel card because I love them so and thought it would be the cool thing to do. Plus I adore this gorgeous paper from My Mind's Eye and wanted you to be able to see it. My image is colored with Copics and Prismacolor Markers, and her wings have a light coating of Martha Stewart glow-in-the-dark glitter on them. I haven't tested it to see if it really does glow, but even if it doesn't, it adds nice little shimmer to her. I embellished with lace, flowers, Dew Drops, a glitter chipboard flourish from my stash and a Halloween brad. I had so much fun making this! I know it's only August, but I brought out all my Halloween crafting supplies, and I will be making more Halloween cards ASAP! As a matter of fact, I will be back later this week with yet another Tickled Pink Stamps preview! Thank you for stopping by today and all of your lovely comments are truly appreciated! Hope you have a fabulous day!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

I am back with post #3 for the day! I've been a busy girl for it being my birthday! But I have the afternoon to relax if I choose (or I can craft) before the small man and I head off to my birthday dinner with the family. I always choose a Mexican place... I love the stuff!

Anyway, back to my real reason for this post! I'm here to tell you about another sponsorship from Tickled Pink Stamps. This time it is Paper Sundaes Challenges and theme for the week is a sketch (#81 - Alicia's Sketch, seen above). You all know how I adore sketches so how could I not play along? Since I am a Pinkette DT member I chose Lil Pinkette Tom Boyz Coraline to work with today. She is so cute with her ladybug shirt, but I have been in a darker mood lately (I have Halloween on the brain! lol). I had seen the creepy bug paper in a Martha Stewart designer paper pad I have in my stash and thought she might make an adorable Goth in training when paired with it. Heehee! So I went with black, gray, and cream only for my color scheme and used the bug paper. Corline is colored with Copics, and I added a little glaze to the magnifying glass lens. The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up set called Cute as a Bug. Very fitting, I thought.

Thanks for taking a peek! Be sure to pop on over to the TPS blog to see the details on the sponsorship AND to check out the fabulous previews that are going on now. They are for the amazing new Lil Spinks and Spooks Halloween collection and includes new images from both Lil Lolitas & Lil Lads and Lil Pinkettes! Be sure to leave comments there for your chance to win!

Before you go, just a reminder that I have birthday blog candy you might like to enter your name to win as well!

And I'm back with my Corrosive Challenge card for this week. It's the first challenge of a new month so we have a fabulous new sponsor and prize! August is all about Simply Betty Stamps! I am so excited to work with these fun images! They are just my style!

This week our challenge is Earth Tones. Think green, brown, mustard, rust... It's easy to make Fall themed cards with this color scheme, and though it is my favorite season, I decided I wanted to work with one of our sponsor's images instead. This is Mina from Simply Betty Stamps' Victorian Beauties collection. She is a digi, and I have given her the "big head" treatment so that she sort of looks like a vintage portrait. Colored with Copics and cut out with a Classic Ovals Nestie, she is matted with a Scalloped Oval Nestie in Old Olive. I used a few Tim Holtz embellishments - Mr. H is fabulous for achieving the Victorian/Steampunk/Vintage look! I found some Earth toned designer paper in my stash and embossed it with the Cuttlebug Clockworks embossing folder.

My layout is the sketch from Challenge #70 over at Digi Doodle Shop Challenges. I think I followed it well, except for the addition the doily for texture and to fill the empty space at the top of my card.

You'll want to head over to The Corrosive Challenge blog here to see what the rest of the design team has been up to. And I sure hope the inspiration is enough to make you want to join the fun! Me, I do have crafting to do today, but there is also some celebrating to be had for this birthday girl! I'll enjoy dinner with my small man, parents and brothers this evening. :)

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back this week as I'll have previews of the new Halloween Pinkettes from Tickled Pink Stamps! And you KNOW Halloween is my absolute favorite so you won't want to miss them! Enjoy your Sunday!

Happy Birthday to me! Today is August 7th, and this Leo girl is celebrating by offering a fun and fabulous bit of blog candy to you! No rules, simply enter your name with a link to your blog using the InLinks tool below. If you would like to share this candy in your side bar that would be lovely AND you will be rewarded with a second entry for the candy! Just be sure to enter your name a second time and put "sidebar" after your name with a link to a different part of your blog such as a specific post or page. (I will be verifying all sidebar entries.)

What will you receive as the winner, you ask? Well, let me show you...

Also, for every 10 new followers I get, I'll add another item to the candy. It could be flowers or bling or whatever other yummy crafty goodness strikes my fancy. I'll add the prizes to the post as we go.

Any guesses as to how old I am today? Leave me a comment and let me know how many candles you think there will be on my cake today. I made a card to share with you also.... It features the Leo zodiac image from Sweet November Stamps. All twelve signs are available in both rubber and digi formats. I have the digital versions, of course. You can purchase them, like I did, from All That Scraps. She was a lot of fun to color, but I have to say I'm not entirely happy with her hair... I still need practice on that technique, I fear. The papers are Basic Grey from my stash and the sketch is #81 over at The Pixie Cottage.

The candy will be open for two weeks. A winner will be selected by random draw on August 22nd. Good luck and thanks for sharing my special day with me!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Tickled Pink Stamps is sponsoring three fabulous challenge blogs right now, and I am here to tell you about them! I made a card that incorporates all three of them AND uses a Tickled Pink Stamps image. When Debbie, our fabulous TSP sponsorship coordinator asked for assistance, I happily volunteered to represent the Pinkettes. Isn't she adorable? This is Pippa. She's a little shy and a lot sweet. Those flowers are for you for your birthday, but she's embarrassed by the fuss you're making. They're just flowers, after all, jeesh! lol Lil Pinkette Pippa can be found in the Tickled Pink Stamps store, along with her friends the Lil Lolitas and Lil Lads, the Pink Pets, and Cherrie.

I have used two designer papers with spots plus a Cuttlebug embossing folder. And my Prima rose has dots on it as well. I also stamped some spots on the edges of my image panel in Orchid Opulence classic ink by Stampin' Up. So I think I have the spots challenge covered. lol I made it a birthday card by incorporating a new $1 "Happy Halloween" banner stamp I bought the other day. I just stamped the "Happy" and cut out the flags then used part of a sentiment from the My Favorite Thing's Who's That Birthday Girl set to finish the birthday greeting.

I am off today so I hope to do a little crafting. Maybe. lol It is supposed to be gorgeous out and it is a rare ME day! Most of the time I am off because my small man is sick or day care is closed or the weather is inclement or we are going somewhere (like our trip to the zoo), but today, after a morning meeting, my son goes with his father, leaving me with 24 hours plus of "off duty" time. I feel a little guilty being off from work and not having him stay with me, but hey, even mommas need time off sometimes too! Besides, not a day has passed since he was born that I haven't seen him. Honestly, I'm not sure I like the idea, though I'm sure it's coming. For now, I'll enjoy a bit of down time then happily greet him on Saturday with hugs and kisses while he squirms and swats at me, giggling and saying "Go!" Too cute!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card (and for tolerating my ramblings!). Hope you have a fantastic Friday!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I am back with card two out of three made in the last 24 hours. This time it is with the new Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge! Yes, I've been a busy girl (and I'm running on only three and a half hours of sleep and LOTS of caffeine). The challenge this week is to use a feather or feathers on your creation. Such a simple thing, yet I have never done it before! Can you believe it? Of course I had to go out and buy some. There was a rainbow of colors available in my local chain craft stores, but I decided to buy only a package of white and a package of black to start. And as you can see, I ended up using the black ones since I opted to make another Halloween card. I know it's still almost three months away, but it's my favorite holiday and I'd like to be better prepared this year with handmade crafty goodness.

I selected Lil Haunt Ghost Willow from Tickled Pink Stamps as my image. I love her long, flowy cloak - it makes me think priestess of the old religion so I went with a witch theme. She is colored with Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers, and I used a white gel pen to put the streaks in her hair.

I happened across the above layout (sketch #58) over at the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge blog and thought it might be fun to play along. I love their stamps, but only have one set - a Halloween one! (Note to self: buy more Waltzingmouse stamps sooner than later.) I inked up the witches brew label from Wanda's Pantry, colored the border and the moon then used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Old Paper and Vintage Photo to age my paper. I have to say that I like the way it came out. My paper is from Martha Stewart, a Halloween pad I picked up last year. Throw in some lace, a couple of flowers, a bit of bling, and of course my "raven" feather and I was done.

I really enjoyed working with a material I don't normally use. If you'd like to see what the rest of the {Pink} Challenge ladies have dreamed up, visit the blog here. And if you want to play along, which I hope you do, all you have to do is use an image from any Tickled Pink Stamp collection (you can chose from Lil Lolitas and Lil Lads, Lil Pinkettes, Pink Pets, or Cherrie - all available here in the TPS store) and a feather on your creation.

Have a lovely evening and I'll be in the morning with a TPS sponsorship....

EDIT: I won a free set of my choice from Waltzingmouse Stamps with this card!

Wow, it's already almost the end of the 1st week of August! Where is this year going to? You know the approaching weekend means it's time for another Dare To Be Sassy Thursday challenge over at Sassy Studio Designs. This week we're Feeling Sentimental and you must use a sentiment on the front of your creation. August is a BIG birthday month here, including my own, so I thought I would make a birthday card to celebrate my many fellow Leos using the Cowardly Lion Little Honey from the Wizard of Oz collection. I also used a Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie designer series paper pack I've had in my stash forever and two sentiments from a Stampin' Up set called Occasional Quotes. The layout is sketch #166, courtesy of Sketch Saturday. It's been a while since I've played along over there so I thought I'd make an effort this week. There hasn't been a lot of extra time to play along with challenges just for fun... I have a crafty To Do list that is a mile long so you will be seeing more of me this week and next.

But for now, I need to get to bed as it is finally quiet - the small man seems to be having some trouble sleeping tonight - and it is WAY past MY bed time. The good news is, today is my Friday as I took a day off from work to give myself a long birthday weekend. And my son will be with his father so I will have ME time, actual time where I can do whatever I want. Hmm... what to do, what to do? lol I'm sure I'll find something to keep myself occupied.

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back later today with a Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge and a TPS sponsorship as well!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Christmas is in the air today even if it is the first day of August! I'm back with another holiday card, this time for Tickled Pink Stamps Challenges Christmas Challenge. This month we are looking for embossing on your projects. It could be dry embossing or heat embossing. Either or both is fine and the choice it up to you! Heat embossing has never been one of my favorites so I decided to use dry embossing. My trusty Cuttlebug gets lots of use with my collection of embossing folders so I selected the snowflake one for the die cut mat behind my image. I also used a snowflake border punch by Fiskars that has an embossed element.

My image is Lil Christmas Frankie from Tickled Pink Stamps. He's clearly an elf, but he reminds me of Jack Frost too for some reason. I colored him with my Copics and Prismacolor Art Markers and fussy cut him before using 3D dots to adhere him to my card. Of course I had to add some bling and some hardware and couldn't resist a punched snowflake with a mulberry paper rose center.

You have all month to play along with the Christmas challenge. This challenge is ONLY for Tickled Pink Stamps images. Those include Lil Lolitas and Lil Lads, Lil Pinkettes, Pink Pets, and Cherrie. The prize is 2 rubber or 4 digital TPS images of your choice! Feeling in the Christmasy mood now? lol

My layout is the 2nd Pink {Ink} Sketch Challenge by the fabulous Kellie Winnell. This is a brand new challenge which started last month. Kellie is also sponsoring the challenge this fortnight so as owner of Tickled Pink Stamps she has a fabulous prize for the sketch winner - 3 rubber or digital images of your choice PLUS a sentiment set and matching die! How amazing is that?! This challenge is open to images of all brands. If you'd like to join in the fun, Sketch #2 can be found here.

Wish me luck staying awake today. I was up far to late with my crafty doings, and I may need extra caffeine to make it through! I have a very busy week in front of me so stay tuned for more projects from both TPS and SSD! Thanks for stopping by.... I appreciate the visit and all comments are gratefully received!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.... Well, that's the theme of the new Sassy Studio Designs Sassy Christmas Challenge at least. In reality, it is August and 90 degrees outside! Yes, I made a Christmas card this morning and then took my small man to my brother's so we could go swimming in his pool. Perfectly normal! lol And it's New England! The fluffy stuff will be flying soon enough! So now is the perfect time to start working on those holiday cards. Challenge #5 is easy - all you have to do is use a Sassy Studio Designs image and have snow and/or snowflakes somewhere on your creation. I opted to use both snow and snowflakes. One of my designer papers has snowflakes on it. I made a layered snowflake with two Martha Stewart punches and a snowflake brad. I used those same snowflake brads along the bottom of my card. AND I used something called a Snow Writer to enhance the falling snow and the pile under her feet. Before it dried I simply sprinkled some glitter on it for added effect. You can't really tell from my picture, but it is 3-dimensional and quite sparkly!

My image is called First Snow from Sassy Studio Designs. She is one I've used before, but I think she's so fun to color I just had to print her out and put markers to her again! The sketch is #12 from the deconstructed sketch. I am so glad I found this blog because Jen has FABULOUS layouts over there! If you haven't played along there before, you'll want to go check out her blog, deconstructing jen. Because not only are her sketches cool....Wait until you see her cards!

You have all month to play along for Sassy Christmas Challenge #5. Simply link your project up here on the SSD blog, using the inlinkz tool, by August 31st to be eligible to win 2 Sassy Studio Designs digital images of your choice.